The Ugly Brown House

I jumped in the truck and tried to keep my mouth shut so I could listen to Barry quickly explain where we were going. Gabrielle was even quiet in the back seat.

Something had shifted. Something big was happening. Years of prayers were being answered in the moment.

I’m always curious what transpires heavenward to create change on earth. Maybe that’s only for the Father to know. I’m thankful & wonder if some day I’ll find out what transpired in our situation that day.

We pulled into a gravel drive just 5 minutes from the neighborhood we lived in. There sat a brown stone home built in stages over the last 40 years. Tired, dark and surrounded by brooding trees and high grass.

Have I told you how much I despise brown? Ugh.

Immediately I was trying to visualize the structure stripped back to just the studs. Nope. Not much better.

The words, “You’re going to hate it” were still hanging in the air over my heart as Barry kept telling me what the owner had shared with him. Before we arrived my husband had walked the property and looked through the house. He also spoke with the owner on the phone for about 45 minutes gaining more details about the story of this place.

But this spot was not remotely homey or what I had imagined as a fixer upper. Maybe Barry was right – I would hate it? Or maybe I just couldn’t see what could be?

As he hunted for the key hidden near the crumbling add-on garage, I took a deep breath of the cold air. A little in shock. Wondering if the place had to be so ugly to start with. He prepared me for the stench inside and kept Gabrielle outside as I walked through the door.

The owner had moved to another town a few hours away and rented to a family. He did not check on the renters for a few years. Not something I would suggest.

With a random stop by a few days earlier, the owner found his former home destroyed. He was so distraught by what he uncovered, he sat down on the front stoop and vomited. With the aromas of smoke, pet feces and mold, I could understand his gut reaction. He evicted them immediately.

Supposedly the owner had the house professionally cleaned before we saw it. I couldn’t imagine how someone could have children living in such filth. Nothing was salvageable. The place would have to be taken back to the studs. And then, who knows if that smell would still linger on wet days.

As I sprinted out of the house, the rank smell still filling my clothes and nostrils, I must have been bug-eyed and flushed. Barry asked what I thought. Who was he kidding?!

I took another deep breath and tried to listen. I tried to see this place for the potential of a great story. I tried to see redemption. I tried to see what God might want to do. I walked through the weeds and holes in the field to see the rest of what the property offered.

There were 10 acres, cross-fenced with a horse barn, chicken coop, large shop, a junky shed and a pool that hadn’t been covered in years. I was positive the mud was solidifying into concrete and the Lochness monster lived in the deep end. The chain link fence was keeping him from eating the neighbor’s dogs.

Barry informed me the owner already had four offers and we needed to decide what we wanted to do by that night. It was already 4pm.

The property hadn’t even been officially listed, no MLS # or online listing, no realtor or even a real For Sale sign in the yard. Most of the offers were site unseen.

Property in our area was going fast and this spot was in town. 10 acres for the price the owner was asking was reasonable. But he already had an offer from a potential developer for more than the asking price. Why would he even consider anything we could bring to the table?

Barry called our realtor. She came and looked at the place while I took Gabrielle back home for dinner. We met up afterwards. Sitting at our dining room table, both Barry and our realtor gave me the pitch. It was a prime location, close to town, the land was perfect for what we had in mind, met all of our requirements, had nice out buildings we wouldn’t have to build {the shop was nicer than the house!} and if we put our house on the market immediately, we could swing the financing.

Then Barry said, “I leave it up to you. I think we should make an offer, tell the owner our goals and see what happens. But it’s up to you. If you don’t want to or feel like it’s not the right spot for us, we won’t. What do you want to do?”

We made an offer that night for full asking price with a phone call to the owner to share a little bit of our vision for the house and the land. Within an hour he had declined the other offers and signed ours’. At 9pm, just a few hours after we saw the property for the first time, we had a signed contract and were putting our house on the market the next week.

When it’s God’s timing, hold on to the roll bar. The rollercoaster can really pick up speed quickly after you’ve waited in line for hours or years in our case.

But what about THAT ugly house? Could we really afford to renovate it?

Comments

I loved reading how your story gained speed after such a long wait, and I loved how you stepped out in faith, although you weren’t completely sure. When only God can make a way, it must be astonishing to experience! Looking forward to future inspiring installments on your story!